... doesn't seem very climactic to me. If they follow the book, all is quiet until Bilbo convinces the dwarves to shut the door. Then Smaug comes along and smashes rocks.

I could see it going either way, but I would like Smaug's death to be the climactic scene of DOS. I would reverse the orders of chapters 12 and 13 to put the exploration of the treasure in TABA and the death of Smaug in DOS.

I would also like to see the battle with the necromancer play out in TABA. I think the defeat of Smaug is interesting because it is done by humans (Bard) as opposed to the greater powers of ME (Gandalf). If the Bo5A is part of a greater plot, it climaxes for both the lesser (Hobbit/Dwarf) and greater (White Council) arcs. If the white council "wins" in DOS, I feel like the significance of the Bo5A is diminished. It makes the land more peaceful after the defeat of a great host of goblins, but the big picture is the necro AND the goblins (plus, to a lesser extent, Smaug). I don't want to resolve the big picture before the little one, especially not in two sequential films.

I think Smaug needs to die either at the same time or after the resolution of the DG subplot. But not before.

My reasoning is that it Smaug dies before the DG subplot it might sever the importance of the connection between the two stories. The connection should be that Sauron is trying to gain an alliance with Smaug which is why Gandalf sets the company out to Erebor, and why the white council attacks DG.

If Smaug dies first, then it would seem like there really isn't much need for them to attack DG since the main villain/purpose (Smaug) has been killed. Yes, they still have the task of driving Sauron out of DG but it doesn't really seems to fit with the original purpose of attacking DG.

But if DG is resolved first, we are still left with the threat of Smaug and the purpose of the dwarves' quest. It also shifts the spotlight away from the DG subplot and brings the focus completely on the main aspect of the story, which is the journey of the dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.

I think resolving the DG subplot before Smaug's death is a much more effective way of telling the story. -Sir are you classified as human -Negative, I am a meat-popsicle